Their macho burrito was AMAZING! one of the best Mexican restaurants Ive been to, I am Mexican and i appreciate their food! Everyone was incredibly friendly and their drinks were delicious!

When every club in the area is charging $20 to get in, these guys still have free cover - of course with a little wait. Which is actually a pleasant wait; the crowd of people who come here are fun to socialize with. In addition, prices of drinks are very reasonable. The music is always on top, always blows my mind. This is why it is my favorite place to party in the Hubbard region.

Food was great but bartender looked like he didnt want to work there. He offered little help to the server and overall service was slow which made no sense because it was a midday week day meaning they were not busy at all. Would come again for the food only. Out server was nice just didnt care for the bartenders dismissal attitude.

Nice place, had a blast with their St Paddys Day celebration. It was lit with their music, atmosphere, and green beer. Their Cinco de Mayo was a little more chill which kinda surprised me since the restaurant is Latino themed. The place is overpriced, but its near the loop so its almost expected at that point. Food is really good as well. Drinks are made strong for a good time.

Great place to watch games, relax, and grab some delicious food. Drinks made well.

This place is officially on my “Never Go Again” list. The atmosphere is terrible, and service was weird. Also there was a horrible wet rotting towel smell throughout this location. Highly disappointed. Lots of potential but it just nothing but sadness.

Been coming here for awhile. Food is always fantastic. Ive had most of the menu but never remember to take pictures for my reviews because I inhale it. This time I remembered. Every time Im downtown my wife and I hit up El Hefe. Always fire. 5/5

Great food. Been here many times and will continue to. A bit pricey but its River North so cant knock em for that. One star off because the host seemed really annoyed we had a person late but the place was far from packed. Every other time has been outstanding so I put 5 stars, cant blame the place for one bad guy.

I went there with the family. We were having a good time. Went to the bathroom with my sister in law. She sat down for a bit while we waited on others and we got kick out. No one never told her to get up or given a warning. We got kick out in such a horrible way. One of the bouncers put his hand on me while I was walking out. Nice place but definitely need to choice wisely on who they hire to be bouncers. They were very unprofessional. Wont go back.

This place was cool to begin with but the service is absolute trash. The bartender absolutely would not help us and there was hardly any body here. I absolutely do not recommend, this place is NOT good!! The bartender was intentionally not helping us. Horrible service. I would never come back.

Great atmosphere and even better food. Magnificent Margaritas!

This bar was awful. I would give it 0 stars if I could. The bartender was AWFUL. She refused to serve anyone even though there was no one at the bar. She kept making comments about tips, even though she had been tipped. Apparently it wasn’t enough for her to serve us. She took a FaceTime call instead of serving customers. DO NOT GO TO THIS BAR!

A really good mexican version of the typical american sports bar that gets quite lively when the sports have finished. We ate here, everyone had tacos and everyone enjoyed it

Do not recommend going here at all. Save your time and go somewhere else. Me and my wife went there last night sat at the smaller bar by the back and did not get acknowledged by absolutely anybody. The male bartenders would go behind the bar look me and my wife up and down and then just leave. I finally asked for a drink and was completely ignored. Listen I am Latino myself so In no way is this racially motivated but the male Latino bartenders there last night were so busy judging everyone that came through the door than busy serving drinks and doing there job. Leave all that judging stuff to the ladies and act like men. This is not high school it is a 21+ bar. This establishment for sure needs to evaluate its employees and let some of them go.

Good food and drinks. Felt less cocktail options!

The placement transforms after 11 pm. Crazy good

100% fun. Best night out with my girls. And the DJ(s)......AMAZING!!!! 10/10 Recommend

Loved this bar! Very fun atmosphere. We went on a Friday night and the club was pretty bumpin. I never stopped dancing because the DJs were that good! There is a dress code and Im not sure the extent of it, but I do know you cant wear Jordans. If youre looking for a fun nightlife spot in downtown, definitely make the stop here.

Nothing really special about this place. The staff was friendly and the tacos ok but the margaritas weren’t that good.

Fun spot and great food. Taco Tuesdays are, DJs are good.

We used to enjoy coming here for the food.... but the past few visits, the service absolutely bombed. You get ignored and have to flag servers down to get a drink as well as order food. No one seems happy that works here... will not be back, especially not until the security been replaced with recent news.

Drinks okay, the tacos are real good.

I was here in the afternoon one time. Had a couple of drinks, had a good time. Two months later I came back to experience the lit night that they have here. Yup I would love to come back again very soon we will. My experience at the place at night was very awesome! I loved it and there is an amazing vibe. We paid $21 for 2 small drinks. They were nasty but other than that the music was totally awesome!

Fun sports bar to watch the game. Drinks are pretty reasonable and the service is fast. At night it turns into a nightclub and the clear the tables for a dance floor. The DJ was fun and played great songs. There were party streamers going off throughout the night we we enjoyed!

Had a good time. Celebrated 2 birthdays this past weekend.

I should have checked the reviews. The neighboring restaurants that I wanted to go to were so jam packed and I was so hungry that I decided to try this place out.The journey to the restroom should’ve been a warning sign to get out. Upon descending down the stairs you could smell a horrendous odor. That very moment I should’ve went to the table and left.The chorizo queso had very little meat and tasted old and gummy and cheap. The chicken street taco was so dry I couldn’t swallow it.I will guarantee they water their tequila down because my margarita tasted like watered alcohol with lime.On top of it all they have nerve to charge a “tech fee” to cover the increase in the minimum wage in Chicago. Your food is already overpriced for what you get and if it wasn’t for the cute blonde in the crop top I would have never received a refill on my water or the check or anything as the waitress sat down near the bar talking to the bartender half of our dining experience and then spent the other half sitting with other staff members that were eating.This place is a waste of money and you can honestly truly get better food at McDonald’s. Do not waste your money on this overpriced and poorly serviced taco joint with a filthy bathroom that needs to be wiped down with bleach.

Great place to hang out buy Bartenders cheat and charge you a lot for the water down drinks. It’s atypical third word type club, lure you in and change you more.

Fun bar with good drinks and friendly staff

Note: Came here for the late night bar scene, rather than the restaurant aspect. As a late night bar on a crowded Saturday, it was a great time. The line gets pretty long so it can be a bit of a wait to get in. Once inside, its crowded, with a multiple bar spaces to get drinks. There is a lot of floor space, and eventually people use that well enough. The DJ was playing some solid sets. We ended up getting a table, and really enjoyed the atmosphere from that. They bring out the bottles with sparklers, and put on a little show. For the most part, bouncers and employees are nice and not too over the top about monitoring things. Good place to have fun, but can be pretty packed.

Came here to celebrate an early Mother’s Day. We had a great time the music was good and so was the drinks. During the time here we had a crowd of people come in and we’re dancing by our table and one of the girls was sitting on my seat. I asked the women if she can move off my seat and she was intoxicated and started verbally attacking me. To my defense my family that was there with me told this women to calm down. She was with a crowd of people so of course we felt threaten. When security Came they threw us out the bar instead of those people. We spend a nice amount of money that day for it to end up being a HORRIBLE time. I feel like we were being discriminated because we were Hispanic and they were white. I would’ve love to have come back to this place, but I won’t spend any money at a place that is racist and treat their customers like trash. Security there is terrible also!

Pretty good, bartender was nice and we all had a good time. I did trip and fall in front of the bar and no one helped me but it was cool. If you guys have a video of it please send it to me.

The service was ok until they told us the kitchen closes at 9pm. We had just sat down and began looking at menu. The manager said the section they sat us in we have to move at 10pm because it turns to a night club. I was shocked never heard that before. The tacos we ordered was burnt and the manager was not even apologetic for sending it out that way she only said what would you like me to do about it? She even gave a EXCUSE about we grill our meat like that is a legit reason for someone meat or corn to taste burnt. I stated remove the charges for the food I sent back to the kitchen. Its dissatisfied for the taste to burnt it ruined my appetite. She rolled her eyes and stormed away stating OK! I will never go back to this establishment. Poor group of employees EVERYONE appeared to be INTOXICATED while on duty! I COULDNT BELIEVE IT my 1st and last time there its UNACCEPTABLE when you are spending 369.00 like we did! I would love to meet the owner of el hefe! Its really a shame after me being highly referred to try them! I will definitely be letting my employees ALL know Monday morning what happened and the manner it was dealt with they never removed the charges either for the burnt food!

There were no places to stand or sit. A bunch of tables reserved for bottle service that were not being used by anyone. We all got shots and then left. Bartender was nice though.

Best night club Ive been to. Came with my friend not knowing what to expect. But wow I was blown away by their lighting and sound effects. I want to go back to chicago just to come back to this place to party. Unfortunately we live in miami.

Good margaritas. Also got the chips and salsa. It came with 3 homemade salsas that were each delicious.

Atmosphere is fun for dancing! It is really hot inside when its busy on the weekends though, so be prepared to sweat. Drinks are good but $12 each.

Eric the manager is the Man!!! He held show us one of the best time to end 2019! Great drinks, better music, and the best scenery!

Awesome place, cool vibe and excellent food. Went with my family and we had a blast. The chef jesus vargas is the best super humble and very attentive.... recommended 100%. Everytime i come to chicago i know were to go now...

Perfect late night grub

It was a huge disappointment that this was not even close to being a true Mexican restaurant. It was close to the Trump so we walked 5 minutes there on our date night. Everything we tried was terrible. I would honestly say that Taco Bell is more authentic.

Pro tip if your trying to “enforce” a dress code first make sure the management reflects that code. If your gonna refuse someone from coming in when they are wearing new Jordan’s you better have something better on than an old dirty pair of slip on vans. Then charging me $20 to get in while there’s no cover is bogus. My whole party got in and you’re gonna give me a hard time and expect me to spend any money at your bar is bull. This dress code needs better clarification what athletic shoes are allowed like I saw roll in compared to a casual pair of Jordan’s that you “ball in”

Its a decent place. Food was pretty good. It gets very crowded over the weekends as the tables from bar area are cleared later at night for dance floor. Mahi mahi taco and their load d fries with stake were pretty good.

This place is garbage. Dont ever go here.

Completely average downtown taco joint. Tacos looked great on the menu and looked like they were well thought. Execution when the food arrived was about par. The fresh made tortilla chips were solid. And the fresh made salsas served with the chips made up for the hum drum tacos. Pretty pricey for what I got.

Fun place! Great drinks. Attentive service. I will definitely go back.

I feel really bad for Marc Adams on Thursday! 3.14 He has banging jams but these stupid spot lights are the worst thing to happen to the good vibes he had going in. Do your bar a favor a get rid of them. If you’re trying to clear the place out at 10:45p on Thursday then turn the lights on....

I ordered the Hefe Hemburgesa, it was nothing outstanding. The positive being the vibe of the place.

They have decent food and drinks. Can’t recommend to go here though as it is fairly unsafe especially for female patrons. Ethics trump food, we will never return here.

Tacos were ok but not great. Expected better when it is their specialty.After email conversation with the manager, I have a better understanding and they made everything right with me. They have a great team and I will visit them next time I am in downtown Chicago.

Everything was okay, what was better was the carne asada fries.

I went to this place for the first time this weekend. It was very cold inside, had to eat with my jacket in. I ordered the burrito and the person I was with ordered the chimichanga and they were both very good. My only issue is that our server wasn’t attentive enough. We had to keep asking the bus boy to send our server back to the table if we needed something.

Fajitas were delicious, ambiance was really fun and lively. Our waitress Emily was super attentive. Definitely recommend!

Interesting bar, food was good. The shrimp tacos are my favorite.

Really great place to stop for food and drinks. The drinks are totally worth the price and the food isnt bad either. Nice crowd and fun place to hang.

Update: Someone reached out to resolve the issue below and was very respectful. Very impressed with how they handled the situation.Although the food was good, it was way too loud to have an enjoyable conversation. We went at 7:45 p.m. and the music was obnoxiously loud. We all were nauseous, and could not enjoy our meals, or our time. I literally had to scream to talk to the person next to me. The bathrooms were disgusting. It smelt so bad, did not have any toilet paper, there were broken glasses, and drinks spilled all over the floor.

I really enjoyed when I watch some games there. The drink is awesome.

Mary Clair did a great job keeping drinks in front of us.

If you’re looking for a nice night out, this is not the place. Stay safe and stay away.

I was there for HH on a Monday and the place was in between shifts changing the staff. The bartender was Maria and she was friendly and helpful, the place looks good but kind small! I would definitely recommend and go back to visit.

Great music and drinks and food. Loved it here 10/10 will recommend.

The vibes were just right for my first visitDefinitely will be going back.

Delicious food. Great drinks. Fantastic service. Perfect atmosphere.

Staff was great, food was average, bar was out of cranberry juice

Had a horrible experience with the door staff. They were incredibly rude and disrespectful. The music wasn’t very good and I definitely won’t be returning.

It wasnt horrible but certainly not great. The place itself is fantastic and great for watching sports. The food is average in all honesty, and far from true Mexican food. The service was bad but that could be because of our waitress who was attractive but not prepared.A positive was the chef coming out to apologize on some mistakes of the waitress and giving us a free chips order.

Went there for what i thought would be a nice dinner., what a terrible place to be at! Stood by the door for over 10 minutes and not a single person acknowledged me. When we were finally seated the table was filthy. The furnishings were falling apart. Our server never smiled once. ordered our food, the carne asada fries were good. but thats about it. she never asked to refill our cocktails or inquire how the food was, honestly she seemed angry. And what is up with the strict dress code? Do you see what your servers dress like?? I was here a few years back and it was really nice, but this place has gone down hill in a bad way. Will never be back nor will I ever reccomend this place;

My friend bought 4 redbull and vodka. They only pour 1 12 ounce can of redbull into 4 drinks (3 oz each) and similarly skimped on the vodka by filling the glasses with ice. Each drink cost $14.50 and the total tab was $58.00 My friend paid $60 ($2 tip) but was charged $65. So the bartenders not only skimp out on alcohol but steal with tips.

Bartender could not have cared less...I really dont think she wanted to be there. I would set my beer off the napkin (that I had to get for myself), which is pretty much the international sign that I need another, nothing. At one point the bar-back offered to get me another beer... thats how bad this was. Never asked if we wanted to order food. Nose in her phone off in the corner. After a couple beers of this, decided to go elsewhere. Wont be back. Cheers to the bar-back...make him a bartender.

Food was good and authentic. Had two different Margaritas and they were both very tasty. Our waitress Paige was very friendly and funny.

El hefe rocks. Emily argo is the coolest bartender around. Plus the chicken tinga tacos are the best!

Lovely food but expensive drinks. Would defo come back

Not the biggest place but great atmosphere. Recommend for drinks and apps, and turns into a club for dancing later in the night. Would definitely go again.

Cool nightclub albeit it was a bit too crowded at times. Drink prices are reasonable and the margaritas are huge.

Had a great time. We came for lunch and the start of a great day. Page from Daytona took great care of us . Thanks again

Delicious food and great atmosphere! Try the Micheladas!

As a woman I will never come back to this establishment. Be careful and always WATCH your drinks here

A bit too crowded on Saturday night...which is totally fine for some, but it was 80°F inside, even with ceiling fans. Excellent DJs, great music selection. Excellent waitstaff.Mens Bathrooms were absolutely horrendous, and no one seemed to care. The entire floor was a lake, as young pukers kept clogging up the toilets, and there was a perpetual vomit odor that lingered until you made it back upstairs to the main floor. I literally threw those shoes away that night.

The service is regularly fast, lovely ambience, nice employees. I will return here again when I get here.

Got the boss mule for big group. For $95 would expect more than what tasted like a couple shots diluted in 192 oz giant copper mug.Update 12/9- management reached out and offered to make things right. Appreciate that they did that and will give it a second try. Looking forward to hopefully being able to give them a new, higher rating.

A great bit of hip Southwest flare in the Midwest. Good environment and bartenders ( especially Alex).

Emily is a fantastic host! I would expect no less from a doctor. The carnitas taco is unequaled. Be there for taco Tuesday.

Solid tacos. The duck carnitas were great.

This place is racist and discriminatory. My friend and I had a horrible experience. The door staff and bouncers plus the “hostess” were very demeaning. They singled out my friend and I from the get go. They subsequently kicked us out for reasons still unclear to us.

Great staff fun party place food good to

Great drinks...great music.

Bad service, bad food, and bad ethics. I have no reason to return and advise people from choosing El Hefe for any reason.

Was there on Friday night. Got kicked out for dancing and a waitress told the security that I hit her. When I didnt even noticed her passing by. So she told the security that I hit her and my whole crew of 12 left being there for only 20 min. We walked out and she was outside acting like it was funny. So stupid. Bad bad experience.

Awful food. Awful service. Awful drinks.

If I could give this place no starts, I would. First and last time visiting this place. We were celebrating a friend, as half of our group went to dance a few minutes later we were being told they were being kicked out, as I went to ask the security what happened, he explained the waitress claimed to being pushed I asked if it was an accident because you know when people dance and its crowded is kinda unavoidable, he simply replied with she works here, I know her so I believe her to which I replied if 4 people are telling you the exact same thing, wouldnt you consider giving the benefit of the doubt? He said no, I know her (waitress) and thats all that matters. I honestly was in disbelief but now I know never to go again or reccomend this place, we were a big group and the drinks are not cheap so I do regret my purchase, I could have waisted my money somewhere else.

Excellent food and service. Ordered the macho nacho and fajitas and shared. Enough for 3 or 4 people! Will be back.

Stylish, large variety of drinks. Super friendly staff. Havent had any food though so my rating is just for drinks, staff and atmosphere. Njoy

Great service and excellent food with great portion sizes... Could not finish the Macho Nachos after the starters! Good cocktails as well

This place jumps on Saturdays! Nice large crowd but wear flats because there is no chairs unless you are VIP

This is and will always be one of my favorite bars on Hubbard Street! Ive been going here for years and its really fun. We have never experienced a bad time its always lit in there. The drinks are good and the atmosphere is great. It gets a little crowded but its fun every single day that you go.

Decided to visit, since we heard it was a good spot. We sat on the 4 top near the bar closest to bar and the dj booth (we were clearly noticeable) for about 25 minutes, had many waitress and workers pass by even put an extra chair and take away a empty water bottle I came in with. No one offered help, not even a welcome. We decided to go somewhere else.

My daughter and I arrived at 718 pm on a Wednesday, I had to ask for a server after almost 10 minutes. No one came so the host came over and took our order. The place had a nuce crowd but nothing that validated another almost 20 minute wait for our food. The service was horrible...... if the food was worth it, we will never know. My daughter and I walked 8 blocks and were STARVING, but the wait to be served was longer than the walk. DO NOT GO HERE!!!

Looking to make a quick buck, they’ll charge you $60 for re-entry even if you tell them in advance. So you have to pay $60 per person to be able to enter and collect your belongings and never return again. I’d suggest meditation to the bouncers who work there, they clearly hate their jobs and are not fulfilled in life.

Decent Chicago bar. Staff was useless but after speaking with Kevin I can tell he really cared about my situation and the issues that I addressed to him. 100% professional and courteous Im definitely open to returning again if not more in the future

2/22/19 Edit: I made a comment about service and the owner immediately reached out to me to ask how to make it right. I appreciated that! Ill definitely be back by this place for a good lunch in River North.

Did not allow my friends and I to enter the establishment because of bouncers that did not feel we represented the crowd enough